The present invention relates to a method of controlling selection of tools in a quadriaxial numerical control lathe with two tool rests.
In a quadriaxial numerical control lathe in which two tool rests are individually controlled for machining, there has been a steady increase in number of kinds of tools usable for machining, so that the degree of freedom in machining increases, and on the other hand, it becomes necessary to determine and select tools suitable for machined portions and machining modes.
Hitherto, such determination has been made by a programmer in forming a machining program. However, the programmer is required to have a high level of knowledge and skill to comprehend characteristics of each of a large number of tools mounted on the tool rests and select tools suitable for each machining, and it takes much labor and time to form a machining program. Consequently, in a large variety-small lot machining operation, the advantage of the quadriaxial numerical control lathe in reducing machining time is undesirably canceled out by the increase in time to form a machining program.